Reflecting on images to feed the soul

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Transition

As we transition into Autumn, rather than post a series of images—as I did through the summer months—I’ll return to the original format of posting a single image with a brief, associated contemplation. As stated on the home page, the purpose of this blog is to, by way of demonstration, encourage you to use your camera (or camera phone) to deepen your experience of photography by making images that exercise your aesthetic preferences in the first place and then expand your perception of self and world.

What and how we photograph is not an accident. It’s an incident of self-projection, a process whereby we formalize our perception within a frame by selecting what to show and what to exclude in order to express how we feel—and observe how we organize the aesthetic dimensions (line, texture, contrast, etc.) within a frame. Most people stop there, content if others who view them appreciate the subject and composition. Because these projections are also reflections, they can inform us about ourselves. But only if we look.

This offering suggests that the “images you make,” beyond the “pictures you take,” contain a wealth of information about who you are and how you currently perceive yourself, the world and the cosmos. It’s about making images that in turn make meaning. All it takes is spending some alone and quiet time with an image, allowing it to speak to you.

By looking back at some of the early posts—and forward to those yet to come—you’ll get a sense of the kinds of issues to ponder, questions to pursue and journeys of imagination to take. These demonstrations are not intended to promote my photography, argue ideas or state my personal philosophy or values. They are intended however, to encourage and inspire a deeper relationship to the images you make, particularly through the “energies” of appreciation and gratitude for all that is, as it is, in front of your camera.

Note also, for those who are following, beginning next week these blogs will show up on Sundays rather than Saturdays.

Life transitions are about letting go of roles, unraveling your identity, and discovering new dimensions of yourself from the inside out.